The Assistant Democratic Services Officer explained the procedure for the hearing and advised that copies had been attached to the agenda, with further copies being available at the meeting if required.

(a) Appointment of Chairman –

Councillor J.W. Thomas was elected Chairman for the duration of the hearing.

The Chairman welcomed those present to the Committee hearing and invited all present to introduce themselves. Following introductions, the Licensing Officer, in presenting the report to the Sub-Committee, advised that on 11th November 2014 an application had been submitted by the Parks Department of the Vale of Glamorgan Council for a Premises Licence under the Licensing Act 2003, for Alexandra Park, Beach Road, Penarth. The Application was attached at Appendix A to the report. The Application requested permission for:

· Regulated entertainment – plays, films, live music, recorded music, performance of dance and anything of similar description as music and dance (both indoor and outdoor)

· The hours requested were from 10:00 hours to 23:00 hours, seven days a week

The Sub-Committee was informed that no representations had been received from the Responsible Authorities in relation to the Application.

During the 28 day consultation period, three representations had been received from local residents and copies of these representations were attached at Appendix B to the report.

On 12th November an e-mail had been received from Councillor L. Burnett, which registered support for the application and a copy of the e-mail was attached at Appendix C to the report.

Following the presentation of the report by the Licensing Officer, the Chairman provided the Applicant with an opportunity to present their representations.

Mrs. S. Jones, Events Officer, advised that currently the Vale of Glamorgan Council had 13 Premises Licences on outside sites across the Vale of Glamorgan; and the aim of this application was to bring Alexandra Park in line with the other parks in the county. Mrs. Jones apprised those present in relation to various events that had taken place across the county using the Premises Licences. These events included Christmas events, the Isle of Fire on Barry Island, open air cinema and World War I events. Mrs. Jones also advised that Premises Licences were used by third parties such as community groups and saved these groups both time and money in the organisation of their events.

Mrs. Jones advised that if third parties used the Council’s Premises Licences there were strict procedures that were adhered to which included the submission of event plans to the Safety Advisory Group which included various parties such as South Wales Police, Environmental Health, Licensing Authority and Ambulance Service and, that third parties needed to ensure that they provided the correct insurance and that all events were risk assessed.

Mrs. Jones informed the hearing that the Application was a standard application in order to allow flexibility for events to be organised at short notice. The application did not request the sale of alcohol and advised that although the Application was for 365 days per year, some of the Council’s Premises Licences were only used four times per year. Mrs. Jones informed the hearing that Health and Safety was taken very seriously by the Council’s departments when organising events and they had a good working relationship with the Police. Furthermore, all Council organised events were stewarded and had first aid provision and all risk assessments and event management plans went to the Safety Advisory Group and it was ensured that appropriate insurance was in place for all events.

Mr. Greatrex, Applicant and Parks Open Spaces Officer, informed the hearing that they had no big plans for events to be held at Alexandra Park at present and the application was to bring the parks in the Vale of Glamorgan in line with each other. He stated that previously, if they wanted to hire a brass band to perform in the Park, they would need a Temporary Events Notice (TEN) and the cost would mount up, however, with a Premises Licence they would have the flexibility to change dates if the weather was bad and events would not be able to be run on an ad hoc basis. He further advised that all of the parks he managed in the Vale of Glamorgan were running very well and that the application was in order to streamline all parks which would make it easier for community groups to hold events.

Following the representations of the Applicant, the Chairman provided the Other Persons with an opportunity to ask questions.

Mr. Gardner, Other Person, asked how third parties were able to organise events using a Council Premises Licence. The Licensing Officer clarified that if the Premises Licence were to be granted, it would still be the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s licence and all third parties would be required to provide event plans which would be reviewed by the Safety Advisory Group, before a decision was made as to whether an event could go ahead, but the responsibility would lie with the licence holder. The Chairman confirmed that, if granted, the responsibility for the licence would lie with the Vale of Glamorgan Council for any events held using the licence.

Mr. Gardner also asked whether the Council had considered the suitability of Alexandra Park for some of the events listed within the Application, for example pop concerts and films, and expressed concern that these events could generate a lot of noise.

In response, Mr. Greatrex advised that the Department applied for the same Regulated Entertainment on all of their applications and further advised that there were currently no plans for these types of events at Alexandra Park. Mr. Greatrex expressed the view that events such as brass bands possibly linked in with the Penarth Pier, might be an event that could be considered in the future, but outdoor cinema or pop concerts would not be considered for Alexandra Park. Mr. Gardner asked for further clarification as to why these types of events were listed on the Application and asked whether a condition could be added to the licence to recommend that these type of events did not take place at Alexandra Park. In response, the Chairman advised that the Licensing Sub-Committee could make a decision in regards to this.

Mrs. Jones advised that the events listed in the Application were simply examples. The Licensing Officer informed the hearing that a broader application for an open space would provide freedom for groups to use the Premises Licence as they required and gave these groups the opportunity to use the Licence for its maximum potential.

Mr. Gardner expressed concern in that these types of events could be held at Alexandra Park in the future if a broad application was granted. In response, the Chairman advised that it was the responsibility of the Premises Licence holder to ensure that any event held did not negatively affect local residents and ensure that there are no problems and that a licence can be reviewed if it generates problems. Mr. Gardner asked whether the layout plans would be posted in public places for comments. The Licensing Officer informed the hearing that the Applicant had offered the condition to allow the Safety Advisory Group to meet to ensure that the events are run safely and this would provide an opportunity for the Responsible Authorities to ensure that event plans were appropriate. Mrs. Jones advised that when an event plan was considered, the Council would look at whether the event was appropriate for the site.

There being no further questions for the Applicant, the Chairman provided the Other Persons an opportunity to present their representations.

Mr. Gardner, Director, Balmoral Quays (Apartments) Management Co. Ltd., informed the hearing that he represented Balmoral Quays (Apartments) Management Company Ltd which comprised of 15 apartments near to Alexandra Park. He stated that following on from a recent residents’ meeting, at which the Application had been considered, the general feeling of residents was that certain events would cause problems, for example, pop concerts and open air cinemas. He further expressed concern that it would be difficult to prevent people from bringing alcohol into the Park at live music events and expressed the view that the Licensing Objective of the prevention of public nuisance could be compromised due to anti-social behaviour generated by people drinking alcohol at these events. He informed the hearing that due to the topography of Alexandra Park, any noise generated by live music events would carry out over the properties in the vicinity although this had not been a problem with brass bands in the past, however, these did not occur very often. Mr. Gardner expressed the view that the residents would not like to see certain events, that the Application was too specific and there were no restrictions on the number of events that could be held.

The Chairman provided Ms. Kelly, Director of Balmoral Quays (Apartments) Management Company Ltd, with an opportunity to address the hearing. Ms. Kelly advised that she reiterated the representations made by Mr. Gardner and raised the issue of parking problems in the area, particularly outside the Balmoral Quays Apartments. Ms. Kelly expressed concern that certain events may do a lot of damage to the park, however, did not want to stop all events, but expressed the view that the Application was too wide and should be restricted.

Following the representations from the Other Persons, the Chairman provided all parties with an opportunity to sum up.

In summing up, Mr. Greatrex advised that he wanted to put the residents’ minds at ease and expressed the view that the parks across the Vale of Glamorgan needed to be promoted and certain events would be appropriate in certain parks. He advised that he understood the concerns of the residents, however, by holding appropriate events he was of the view that antisocial behaviour would be driven out.

Mrs. Jones advised that the Council would ensure that events were site specific and they worked closely with South Wales Police and had paid them to attend events in the past. All events were stewarded and certain events would work well at Alexandra Park, for example brass bands, street theatre, plays.

The Chairman provided the Members of the Licensing Sub-Committee with an opportunity to ask questions and a Member asked whether any events had been denied permission in the past. In response, Mrs. Jones advised that as far as she was aware, no Council events had been denied permission. Mr. Greatrex informed the hearing that two circus applications had been submitted to the Council for Romilly Park and they had been declined due to their unsuitability for the venue.

A Member advised that parking problems was not a licensing issue, but a Police issue and advised that if the local residents had any concerns in relation to parking, they should contact the Police. Mrs. Jones informed the hearing that, in the past, the Council had paid for traffic enforcement officers to be present at events and would ask for them to be present again at future events.

In response to a query in relation to whether, if the Premises Licence was granted, the Council would allow third parties to apply for Temporary Event Notices (TENs) on the Premises Licence, Mrs. Jones advised that TENs would cover the sale of alcohol, and these applications would be considered by the Licensing Authority and South Wales Police and advised that each application would be considered individually to assess whether they would agree to grant the application.

Following the representations made by the Applicant and Other Persons, the Licensing Sub-Committee retired to consider the Application in private.

Upon return, the Chairman confirmed that the application was for Regulated Entertainment and listed some of the examples contained within the application. The Chairman also confirmed that the application was for the hours of 10.00 a.m. to 23.00, 7 days a week.

The Chairman confirmed that there were no representations received from the Responsible Authorities which was given weight by the Licensing Sub-Committee as all Responsible Authorities had been consulted.

In considering the Application, the Sub-Committee considered the four licensing objectives, namely:

· The prevention of crime and disorder

· Public safety

· The prevention of public nuisance and

· The protection of children from harm.

The Licensing Committee had also considered the Home Office Section 182 Guidelines and the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy had also been considered, particularly:

· Section 3 which deals with the licensing objective

· Section 9.2 which states that each application should be considered on its merits

· Section 9.6 which deals with the amenity of residents in the vicinity of the premises

· Section 9.7 which deals with the importance of the licenced trade to the local economy

· Section 10.3 which states that the Applicant should identify and deal with any concerns regarding the licensing objectives within the operating schedule

· Section 12 which lays out the makeup and procedure of the Licensing Committee and

· Section 27 which highlights the Local Authority’s duty under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1988 to have regard to the likely effect of their actions on crime and disorder and to do all they can to prevent it.

The Sub-Committee also considered the e-mail from the Local Member, Councillor L. Burnett, which was in support of the Application.

The Chairman precised the representations from the Applicant and Other Persons as follows:

· In presenting the Application, the Applicant advised that the Council currently held 13 Premises Licences for outdoor sites which did not cause any problems and four of these were in Penarth.

· The Applicant stated that a grant of this Application would allow events to be organised at short notice but they did not envisage holding many events at each location and most of the events would be along the lines of brass band events. All events would be scrutinised by the Events Safety Advisory Group and the Application was not for the sale of alcohol. The Applicant also stated that where necessary Police and stewards would be paid for.

· Mr. Gardner asked who would be responsible for third party events and the Applicants confirmed that they would be responsible. Mr. Gardner stressed that certain events applied for on the Application would not be suitable and would not promote the public nuisance and crime and disorder objectives and also stated that he would be in support of certain events and the Sub-Committee felt confident that any unsuitable events would be filtered out by the Events Safety Advisory Group.

· The Applicants confirmed that they would also always choose suitable events for the area.

· Ms. Kelly raised the issue of parking which although was not a licensable activity, the Applicant agreed to look into any problems arising from this.

· In summing up, Mr. Greatrex stated that the Department was very proud of their parks and felt that people should be encouraged to attend by the holding of suitable events.

The Chairman informed the hearing that following consideration of the Application, the representations from the Applicant and the Other Persons, and having considered the Home Office Guidance, the Objectives of the Licensing Act 2003 and the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy, the Sub-Committee

RESOLVED – T H A T the Application be granted as applied for:

Regulated entertainment – plays, films, live music, recorded music, performance of dance and anything of a similar description with music and dance (both indoor and outdoor)

With the conditions attached as set out in the Applicant’s operating schedule.

The hours granted were as applied for, 10.00 hours to 23.00 hours seven days a week.

The Chairman advised that the Members of the Sub-Committee considered that with good management, the granting of the application should not cause concern to local residents, however, reminded the Applicants and Other Persons that the licence could be reviewed if this was not the case and at a review the licence may be amended or revoked.

The Chairman further advised that the decision of the Sub-Committee can be appealed and must be made in writing directly to the Magistrates Court within 21 days of the decision.

The Chairman welcomed all parties to the hearing and asked that they introduce themselves. Following introductions, the Chairman asked the Licensing Officer to present the report.

In presenting the report to the hearing, the Licensing Officer advised that on 11th November, 2014 an Application had been submitted by the Parks Department of the Vale of Glamorgan Council for a Premises Licence under the Licensing Act 2003 for Romilly Park in Barry.

The Application requested permission as follows:

· Regulated entertainment – plays, films, live music, recorded music, performance of dance and anything of a similar description as music and dance

· The hours requested were from 10.00 to 23.00, seven days a week

A copy of the relevant part of the Application was attached at Appendix A to the report.

The Licensing Officer advised that no representations had been received from Responsible Authorities in relation to this Application.

During the 28 day consultation period, seven representations had been received from local residents and their elected representatives and a copy of these representations was attached at Appendix B to the report.

Following the presentation of the report, the Chairman provided the Applicants with an opportunity to present their representations.

Mr. Greatrex, Applicant and Parks and Open Spaces Officer, advised that the Council wanted to be good neighbours and valued the parks as assets. He also advised that nothing unusual was lined up for Romilly Park. He advised that he had spoken to some of the local residents about their concerns and offered to speak with residents in order to see how their concerns could be resolved.

Mr. Sanders, Other Person and local resident, advised that he wanted assurances about events to be held in Romilly Park and queried why the Application was a blanket application. In response, Mrs. Jones advised that the Application was a standard application which would provide the Council with the flexibility to organise events at short notice and did not restrict the types of events that could be held. She also advised that she appreciated the concerns of the Other Persons in relation to the broad nature of the application, however, assured the local residents that events would not be held 365 days per year and advised that the Premises Licence at Barry Island had only been used three times per year.

In addressing a concern from one of the Other Persons, the Licensing Officer informed the hearing that an Events Safety Advisory Group had been established which met regularly and meetings would be held to consider events. The Safety Advisory Group included officers from the Council, such as Environmental Health Officers from the Food and Pollution teams, South Wales Police, the Highways Department, the Ambulance Service and the Planning Department.

The Other Persons, who were local residents, expressed concerns over an event that had been held at Romilly Park in 2014, where a performer had used explicit language throughout the day and expressed the view that these types of events should not be held at Romilly Park in the future. In addressing these concerns, the Licensing Officer advised that this event had been held on a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) which only required 10 days’ notice and expressed the view that if a Premises Licence was in place it would limit the possibility of these problems occurring in the future. Furthermore, no conditions can be attached to a TEN, however, they can be attached to Premises Licences, and event plans would be required to be submitted to the Safety Advisory Group before they would be permitted. Mrs. Jones informed the hearing that she had spoken with the organiser of the event in question and advised them that it had not been a suitable event for Romilly Park.

Following the representations, the Chairman provided the Other Persons present with the opportunity to present their representations.

Mr. Harvey, Other Person and a local resident, advised that he had no blanket disagreement with events being held at the Park, however, the times listed within the Application were too long and he disagreed with events being held late into the night.

Mrs. Thomas, Other Person and a local resident, advised that one of her concerns had been addressed by Mr. Greatrex, however, expressed the view that too many events were held at the Park and although she did not have an issue with certain events such as the Scout Fete, she felt that there were already enough events held at the Park.

Mr. Pearce, Other Person and a local resident, expressed the view that the Application was arbitrary and expressed concern with regard to the broad nature of the Application and the timings. He advised that the Park was in a residential neighbourhood and that the Events Safety Advisory Group did not represent the residents’ of the area. Mr. Pearce advised that the Police had worked hard to ensure that the area was safe and an alcohol free zone. He further expressed concern about the event held in the Park in 2014 at which one of the performers used explicit language which could be heard throughout the event. He advised that he did not want the whole of the Application thrown out, however, the application was too broad in nature in terms of timings with the possibility of events 365 days per year until 23:00 hours which was unacceptable and felt that the Application needed to be reviewed.

Mr. Sanders, a local resident, expressed concerns in regard to parking problems generated by events and advised that his car had been damaged in the past and he had been unable to park near his property. He expressed concern that private events could be held in a public park which could restrict access to the public. Mr. Sanders’ main concern was in relation to amplified sound from events held at Romilly Park. He queried whether any noise modelling had been carried out, and advised that he had done some analysis in the area in relation to noise levels near the Park and expressed the view that any application for the Park should consider noise modelling.

The Chairman provided Mrs. Pearce, a local resident, with an opportunity to address the Committee and she expressed the view that events could not be adequately policed and was concerned about the noise level generated from events held at Romilly Park, and in relation to the bad language used at a previous event. She felt that some events were good but this application should be reconsidered.

Mr. Harvey felt that independent sound monitoring should be carried out. The Chairman advised that any issues in relation to noise should be reported to Environmental Health, however, advised that no representations had been received from the Environmental Health Department in relation to this application.

In regard to the Other Persons’ concerns in relation to noise, the Licensing Officer advised that one member of the Safety Advisory Group was an Environmental Health Officer from the Noise Pollution Team and they would provide the best advice to the Group and any activity would be constantly monitored.

The Chairman provided all parties with an opportunity to sum up in regards to their representations.

In summing up, Mr. Greatrex advised that the event held in 2014 that the Other Persons had referred to, had been held with a TEN, and the Council had no input into this event. He assured the Other Persons that this was not the type of event that the Council would be organising and expressed the view that this was not the right sort of event for Romilly Park. He advised that they had used a local company to test noise levels for past events and confirmed that they had approached the Responsible Authorities which included South Wales Police, Environmental Health Department and the Ambulance Service in relation to this application and no representations had been received. Mr. Greatrex advised that he wanted to put residents’ minds at ease; they did not want to turn Romilly Park into a big event venue and wanted to be a good neighbour.

Mr. Pearce reiterated his concern in relation to the event held at Romilly Park in 2014 and queried the Council’s Leisure Department’s strategy for parks. In response, Mr. Greatrex advised that the Parks were managed in line with the Green Flag Award Scheme which was a national standard for parks. He further advised that this award had attracted funding which had been used to upgrade the play areas in the parks. He advised that the right sort of events had driven away anti-social behaviour from parks across the Vale of Glamorgan and that he wanted to continue this work. He stated that the Council wanted to be a good neighbour and expressed the view that there was a lot of responsibility involved with the running of the parks in the Vale of Glamorgan however, they involved a lot of stakeholders, including staff at the Parks, and further reiterated that he did not want to put on mass events at Romilly Park. Mr. Pearce advised that he was not against this, however this licence application was far too wide ranging and it needed to be modified.

In summing up, Mrs. Jones advised that the Local Authority had 13 Premises Licences which had been running for a number of years with no problems and that they took the organisation of events very seriously. She advised that previous events held in the Vale of Glamorgan had been held on these types of Premises Licences. She expressed the view that events held in Barry were making the town proud and that the Council had been shortlisted for a Visit Wales Award for one of their events. She further advised that events were policed and stewarded and had been passed through the Safety Advisory Group. She advised that they had taken on board the comments in relation to the performer who had used bad language at an event held in 2014, and stated that this would not happen again. She advised that they had experience in the organisation of events and would not let anything take place that was not suitable for the venue.

There being no further representations, the Licensing Sub-Committee retired to consider the Application in private.

On return, the Chairman advised that an Application had been considered for a Premises Licence for Romilly Park, Romilly Park Road, Barry.

He confirmed that the Application was for the provision of regulated entertainment, namely

· Plays, films, live music, recorded music, the performance of dance and anything of a similar nature and provided examples as listed within the application.

He also confirmed that the hours applied for were 10:00 to 23:00 hours, seven days a week.

The Chairman confirmed that no representations had been received from the Responsible Authorities which had been given weight by the Licensing Sub-Committee as all Responsible Authorities had been consulted.

The Chairman advised that in considering the Application, the Licensing Sub-Committee had considered the four licensing objectives, namely:

· The prevention of crime and disorder

· Public safety

· The prevention of public nuisance and

· The protection of children from harm.

The Licensing Sub-Committee had also considered the Home Office Section 182 Guidelines and the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy, particularly:

· Section 3 which dealt with the licensing objectives

· Section 9.2 which stated that each application should be considered on its own merits

· Section 9.6 which dealt with the amenity of residents in the vicinity of the premises

· Section 9.7 which deals the importance of the licenced trade to the local economy

· Section 10.3 which stated that the Applicant should identify and deal with any concerns regarding the licensing objectives within the operating schedule

· Section 12 which lays out the makeup and procedure of the Licensing Committee and

· Section 27 which highlights the Local Authority’s duty under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1988 to have regard to the likely effect of their actions on crime and disorder and to do all they can to prevent it.

The Chairman precised the representations made by the Applicant and Other Persons as follows:

· The Applicant had stressed that they already had a number of Premise Licences in place in Barry and none of these had caused problems to date.

· Mr. Harvey had expressed concern that the times applied for were too long and too late.

· Mrs. Sanders had concerns regarding the placing of toilets which had been a concern previously. She was also concerned that there would be too many events in the Park. The Applicant stated that they understood this and had dealt with the toilet issue.

· Mr. Pearce was concerned that the licence was for 365 days a year from 10:00 to 23:00 hours, and in a residential neighbourhood, this was too open an application. He further stated that the Events Safety Advisory Group did not represent the residents of Romilly Park.

· Mr. Sanders was concerned with parking, but, as had been advised previously, this was not a licensing issue but the Applicants did offer to deal with any problems where possible. Mr. Sanders also asked about the issue of closing a public park to hold private events. He was also concerned with noise and it was pointed out that the Environmental Health Department was the Council’s experts on noise and had not made any representations on the application.

· Mrs. Pearce was also concerned that the Applicants would not be able to police the events properly.

The Chairman confirmed that reference had been made to a previous event which was held under a TEN. The concerns in relation to this event had been taken into account by the Licensing Sub-Committee.

The Chairman advised that having considered all of the above together with the Application presented by the Applicants and the representations of the Other Persons, the Sub-Committee was satisfied by the assurances of the Applicants that there was no plan to hold a great number of events at Romilly Park, but this Application would allow them to hold suitable events to attract the public.

The Sub-Committee was also satisfied that the Events Safety Advisory Group would filter out any unsuitable events. The Sub-Committee was certain that the conditions attached to a Premises Licence would help to ensure that the local community did not suffer from the effect of any events at the Park.

The Chairman informed the hearing that following consideration of the Application, the representations from the Applicant and the Other Persons, and having considered the Home Office Guidance, the Objectives of the Licensing Act 2003 and the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy, the Sub-Committee

RESOLVED – T H A T the Application be granted as applied for:

Regulated entertainment – plays, films, live music, recorded music, performance of dance and anything of a similar description with music and dance (both indoor and outdoor)

With the conditions attached as set out in the Applicant’s operating schedule.

The hours granted were as applied for, 10.00 to 23.00 hours seven days a week.

The Members of the Sub-Committee considered that with good management the granting of the application should not cause concern to local residents, however, reminded the Applicants and Other Persons that the licence could be reviewed if this was not the case, and that at a review the licence may be amended or revoked.

The Chairman advised that the decision of the Sub-Committee can be appealed and must be made in writing directly to the Magistrates Court within 21 days of the decision.